Tie plate and clip combination



June 9, 1936. J. G. DELFOX TIE PLATE AND CLIP COMBINATION Filed April 5,1935 Patented June 9 1936 UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE TIE PLATE AND CLIPCOWHNATION James G. Delfox, Flushing, N. Y., assignor to The Rail JointCompany, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York This inventionrelates to improvements in supporting and retaining means for railroadrails, and has particular reference to a novel tie plate and railretaining clip structure.

Tie plates are commonly interposed between rails and cross ties for anumber of well-known reasons, and. for a number of equally well-knownreasons it is common to retain rails upon tie plates by means whichpermitlimited vertical movements, and running or longitudinal movementsof the rails relative to the ties. It has also been heretofore proposedto provide means in the form of spring clips engageable with tie platesto retain rails thereon for the movements mentioned. However, all priorspring clip arrangements for retaining rails upon tie plates have hadvarious disadvantages, among which may be mentioned the difficulty andconsequently the excessive cost of making many of the oddly shapedclips, and the excessive cost of making tie plates of the specialdesigns required to permit the oddly shaped clips to be used therewith.

Thus, while the present invention contemplates a special tie plate, anda special spring clip to retain a rail thereon, important objects of theinvention are to provide a tie plate which may be produced at relativelylow cost, and to provide a spring clip which likewise may be produced atrelatively low cost and which, besides being capable of ready and easyapplication to and removal from the tie plate, is thoroughly reliableand efficient in retaining a rail upon the plate.

Another object is to provide a clip having structural characteristicswhich permit of its being readily applied to the tie plate by a hammeror maul, or by sliding the same into position from one end of the tieplate thus enabling easy application or installation in situations whereone or the other mode of application is not available.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe novel tie plate and clip construction and combination as will behereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing and defined in the appended claims. i

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a tie plate constructed in accordancewith the invention and showing a rail retained thereon by means of apair of the present clips.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the tie plate and clip combinationillustrated in Fig. l and showing the rail in transverse section; and

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the combination illustrated in Figs. 1and 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, A designates a portion of a crosstie, B designates, generally, a tie plate constructed in accordance withthe invention and resting upon the cross tie A, C designates the baseportion of a rail resting upon the tie plate B, and D, D designate apair of spring clips constructed in accordance with the invention andoperatively engaged with the tie plate B to retain the rail 0 thereon.

The tie plate B may be of any desired length, width and thickness andmay be secured to the cross tie A in any suitable manner as, forexample, by means of driven or screw spikes designated as iii. Inaccordance with the invention, however, said tie plate is speciallyformed to the extent that it is provided with a pair of parallel ribs tl l i which project upwardly therefrom and which define therebetween achannel to accommedate the rail base C, said ribs thus constitutingabutments for cooperation with the edges of the rail base to hold therail against sidewise movement as is understood.

The ribs H, H may extend either entirely or only partially across thetie plate 13. In either event, they are of greater height than the railbase C at the outer edges of the latter and have formed in their innerand outer faces longitudinally extending grooves l2 and I3,respectively, which are disposed suitably above the outer edges of therail base C, preferably in a common horizontal plane. Preferably, too,the grooves l2, I3

are of inwardly tapering cross section, as shown in Fig. 2, and extendfrom end to end of the ribs ll. They may, however, be of rectangular orany other desired sectional shape and may extend only partiallythroughout the lengths of the respective ribs, in the latter eventcorresponding or substantially corresponding in length to the width ofthe clips D.

The clips D are duplicates of each other and are in the form of splitrings of preferably elliptical or C-shape as shown. They may, however,be in the form of split rings of any other desired specific shape. Theyare formed from steel or other suitable spring material of any desiredwidth and thickness and preferably have the free edge portions of theirjaws tapered to wedgingly and therefore closely fit the preferablyinwardly tapered grooves l2, it, although this is not essential. Theirnormal condition in any event is such that their free edge portions mustbe sprung apart for engagement in the grooves l2, I3. In other words,the normal distance between their free edge portions is less than thedistance between the bases of the grooves I2, I 3. Therefore,

whether the clips are engaged with the ribs 1 I by being forceddownwardly over the tops of said ribs until their free edge portionsspring into the grooves I2, 13, or whether they are engaged with saidribs by longitudinal movement relative thereto, the result isthe same,viz, they are retained securely in engagement with the ribs due to theirconstant tendency to contract and grip the ribs.

In their applied positions, the inner portions of the clips overlie andare suitably spaced above the outer edge portions of the rail base C.Thus, while the rail is held effectively upon the tie plate, desiredlimited vertical movements and* running or longitudinal movements of therail relative to the tie plate are freely permitted.

The tie plate B is cheap and easy to produce because it may be formedsimply by rolling and without requiring other operations except theusual forming of the spike or screw holes therein. The clips D likewiseare cheap and easy to produce because they may readily be bent intoshape from flat spring steel stock. At the same time, due to thecontractile engagement of the free edge portions of the jaw portions ofthe clips with the grooves in the sides of the ribs ll, said clips areelfectively retained on said ribs and serve eifectively to retain therail on the base plate. Moreover, and as is manifest, the clips mayreadily be removed without being damaged by being driven endwiserelative to and off of the ribs ll. They are, therefore, capable ofrepeated use.

Obviously, it is not necessary to groove both the inner and the outerfaces of the ribs l l, as grooving of only their inner faces issufiicient to assure retention of the clips B thereon and to hold saidclips so that they positively limit upward movement of the rail.

Without further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form,proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:-

1. In combination, a tie plate, a rail seated on the tie plate, anupstanding rib on the plate, clip anchoring means on the sides of therib, and a contractile spring clip extending in part over the railflange and having means at its ends engaging said clip anchoring meanson the sides of the rib and maintained in engagement therewith byresilient contractive action of the clip.

2. In combination, a tie plate, a rail seated thereon, a rib on the tieplate cooperating with the edge of the rail base to hold the railagainst sidewise movement, and a bowed spring clip extending over saidrib and in part over the rail base and having its free end portionscontractively engaging opposite sides of the rib, the ends of the clipand the sides of the rib having cooperating formations holding the clipagainst upward movement relative to the rib at each side thereof.

3. In combination, a tie plate having a rib, the rib having a groove ineach side thereof, a rail seated upon the tie plate with the outerportion of its base adjacent to said rib, and a contractile spring clipof substantially C-shape extending over said rib and in part over therail base and having its free end portions seated in said grooves andmaintained therein by resilient contractive action of the clip.

4. In combination, a tie plate having a pair of spaced, parallel ribs,each rib having grooves in its inner and outer faces, a rail seated onsaid tie plate between said ribs, and a contractile spring clip ofsubstantially C-shape engaged with each rib and in part overlying theadjacent portion of the rail base, each clip having its free endportions engaged in the grooves of its related rib and maintainedtherein by resilient contractive action of the clip.

5. In combination, a tie plate, a rail seated thereon, a rib on the tieplate adjacent to the edge of the rail base, said rib having an inwardlytapered longitudinally extending groove in its inner face, and a springclip of substantially C- shape extending over said rib and in part overthe rail base and having one free edge portion engaging the outer sideof the rib and its other free edge portion engaging said groove, thelast mentioned free edge portion of said clip being tapered to fit saidgroove and both free edge portions being maintained in engagement withthe rib by resilient contractive action of the clip.

6. In combination, a tie plate having a pair of parallel ribs, each ribhaving an inwardly tapered longitudinally extending groove in each sideface thereof, a rail seated on said tie plate between said ribs, and aspring clip of substantially C- shape engaged with each rib and in partoverlying the adjacent portion of the rail, each clip having its freeedge portions tapered and engaged in the grooves of its related rib andmaintained therein by resilient contractive action of the clip.

7. In combination, a tie plate having an upstanding rib, a rail seatedon said tie plate with the edge of its base adjacent to said rib, saidrib having a groove in the side thereof adjacent to the rail, and abowed spring clip extending over said rib and in part over the rail baseand having its outer free end portion contractively engaging the outerside of said rib and its inner free end portion seated in said groove.

8. In combination, a tie plate having an upstanding rib, a rail seatedon said tie plate with the edge of its base adjacent to said rib, abowed spring clip extending over said rib and in part over the rail andhaving its inner and outer ends contractively engaging the innerand theouter sides of said rib, respectively, and means acting positively toprevent upward movement of the inner end of said spring clip relative tosaid rib.

9. In combination, a tie plate having an upstanding rib provided at bothsides with clip holding elements, and a bowed spring clip arranged overthe rib and resiliently contracted against the sides thereof to clampitself in position and having its edges interlocking with said holdingelements.

JAMES G. DELFOX.

